English and French aristocratic values expressed in garden design are quite literally the incorrect application of a design solution for a context that’s not the right fit. We use resources like water in a place where water is becoming increasingly precious in order to maintain an ‘ideal’ that we’ve been trained to believe is the ‘right’ way.

I’ve never had an interest in history. As a child growing up in Australia’s education system – through primary, secondary and even tertiary levels, history was the subject I found most boring. I loved the sciences and English, practical subjects that would help me in the future. My focus was all about the future during those years – what will I do with my life? How will I get there by the actions I perform tomorrow? What if it doesn’t go as I planned? Little did I know that history was actually the answer to most of my concerns about the future. It wasn’t history that was boring, it was the way it was being taught.

The perception of design and what it’s capable of is undergoing a transformation. No longer is it about the veneer of visual aesthetic or the product encased in glass in a museum. Designers have a new social responsibility; to step away from their computer screens and step up to the highest level of large organisations and become strategic thinkers. It’s going to be hard work but it’s time to begin using design to make long-term systemic change that can influence the way we live our lives and how we affect people, the planet and the bottom line.

As I meander through stories and biographies of artists and designers (both past and present) a common theme emerges – makers make because they feel they have to and they can’t imagine doing anything else. What’s not clear yet is the motivation. Is it aggrandizement? Industry awards? Or does it go deeper than that – are we fishing for opinions on our worth from those who live outside of our own head? We don’t judge ourselves on our output but rather everyone else’s response to it.

Whilst I cannot speak for Tolstoy, Dickens or Bronte it’s clear to me that writing is about more than just the language or verse, it’s about more than hard work and endless hours of writing and re-writing – it’s about recognising that our own stories are important and interesting enough to tell.

I propose a new frame of reference, a new meaning for this sought after sense of self-worth. This label of ‘creativity’ we so aspire to have bestowed upon us by colleagues, friends or family need not be a judgement of value but rather a judgement of repeated behaviour and repeated behaviour only.

If “patience” were an animal, the world would be up in arms. Sir David Attenborough would be called in for a special documentary to broaden awareness of its plight. The World Society for Protection Against Animals would be accosting people in the street asking for donations to fund an initiative on behalf of the species. Funds would be found in government departments to assist in trying to bring it back to life and no doubt, some sort of international committee would be formed to help spare us of its demise. No, it’s not a cute cuddly critter nor is it a starving African child. Patience however is becoming extinct and technology is the assassin.

I deal with the Hue, Saturation and Brightness (HSB) colour system on a daily basis as a creative professional, forever trying to achieve the perfect balance of these elements in order to tell a story and communicate a message. I was quite surprised when I discovered then that humanity seems driven by a similar but much more powerful set of component parts – Cue, Saturation and Blindness. These three elements work together and bring about emotion and change as well as a lasting impact upon how we live our lives.

Design is bigger business than ever before. As businesses try to to get a grasp of the digital revolution, designers have found a gap in the market where design is no longer needed. Selling the idea of design and other simple, everyday concepts is a lot less effort and a lot more profitable, provided you’re a wordsmith and have the personality and the pie charts to back it up.